Phoenix Suns: 5 Takeaways From Exit Interviews

5. Suns Will Draft Best Player Available

The Suns have been a franchise with too many talented guards since 2014-15, but despite a backcourt that features Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Tyler Ulis and even Brandon Knight and Leandro Barbosa, they won’t hesitate to take another point guard in a guard-heavy draft.

"“It won’t [affect our draft strategy], we’ll take the best available players,” McDonough said. “Our pick will be 1-5. There will be at least five really good players in this draft. I’ve been in the league since 2003, this is up there in the top two or three drafts I’ve seen in terms of talent. “There is some talent at the guard position. I think where we’re picking, at the guard and the wing there are a few very talented players. We have depth at both those areas, especially at the guard slots, but we’ll take the best available player and if that guy’s as good as we think he can be, then we’ll work the rest of the roster around that.”"

The Suns are currently slated as the No. 2 overall pick, if everything shakes out as expected in the NBA Draft Lottery . The top two prospects, according to most draft experts, are both point guards in Washington’s Markelle Fultz and UCLA’s Lonzo Ball.

Fultz is a dynamic and versatile point guard who many believe to be the consensus No. 1 prospect. Ball is a pass-first floor general with shooting range despite an unwieldy release. Either one would help create a tantalizing young backcourt alongside Devin Booker, though defense would be a concern in Ball’s case.

The question is, if the Suns land the No. 1 or the No. 2 overall draft pick and they don’t trade it or use it on a two-way wing prospect like Kansas’ Josh Jackson, what would drafting another point guard mean for Eric Bledsoe’s future?

"“If you look at his career, especially since he’s been here, he’s gotten better every year,” McDonough said. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: At the point guard position, guys usually peak a little bit later. The best example of that who played right here was Steve Nash. “So I think the most likely scenario is to continue to build around [Bledsoe] and Devin and our young core and try to add in guys between 19 and 27 that fit in with that group and add to our talent level.”"

Bledsoe is under contract through the 2018-19 season, he’s been a leader for this young team when it comes to organizing offseason workouts and being active in the community, and he was easily the Suns’ best player this year.

But for a 27-year-old with a history of knee injuries, his timeline doesn’t necessarily line up with Booker and the rest of the young core, even with all the chemistry the two built in the backcourt as the season went on.

Coming off a career year, Bledsoe’s trade value may never be higher, and McDonough admitted that hardly anyone on the roster of a 24-win team is untouchable. For a franchise that learned its lesson the hard way with Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas, drafting another point guard into a crowded backcourt could be the force that prompts a Bledsoe trade in the near future.